Senator Toomey (PA) Letter Two Faced Response to Veterans 2nd Amendmnt Protection Act

[Berncly]

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Senator Toomey (PA) Letter Two Faced Response to Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act

March 31, 2017

Thank you for contacting me about the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act (H.R. 1181). I appreciate hearing from you.

Like many Pennsylvanians, I have long been a supporter of Second Amendment rights. I believe that Americans have a personal, constitutional right to self-protection and to engage in recreational activities involving firearms. That said, I also believe that firearms should be kept out of the hands of convicted criminals and the dangerously mentally ill.

That is why in April 2013, I introduced a bipartisan amendment to the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013 (S. 649), along with Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). Our amendment-which fell five votes short of being adopted-took Pennsylvania's enhanced background check policies for commercial firearm sales and made them the federal standard. Our amendment also enhanced protections for individuals' Second Amendment rights. For example, it would have provided a new legal process for restoring the Second Amendment rights of veterans who, under current law, can be unfairly prevented from acquiring a firearm.

Specific to your concerns, Representative Phil Roe (R-TN) introduced H.R. 1181 on February 16, 2017. Among its provisions, H.R. 1181 would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from deeming a veteran to be "adjudicated as a mental defective," and thus ineligible to purchase or possess a firearm under federal law, unless a judge, magistrate, or other judicial authority of competent jurisdiction finds the individual is a danger to himself or others.

H.R. 1181 passed the House of Representatives on March 16, 2017 by a vote of 240-175, and is currently pending before the Senate. I understand your thoughts on H.R. 1181, and will be certain to keep them in mind should it come up for a vote.

Thank you again for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of assistance.

Sincerely,
Pat Toomey
U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania

[STBear]

He's stuck on stupid with his bipartisan gun bill. A strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and by the way how about my great anti gun bill. Dickweed.